My gut feeling is to stay away.
1) You never do paypal with craigslisters. Pay cash upon pickup/inspection.
2) The guy sounds like a douchebag.
3) 1 month old laptop, $1000 discount, no receipt, no box, no accessories... first word that comes to mind is "stolen"

He owns a business, he has the box (it's at home in NYC), valid purchase date. He's willing to meet but he's 2 hours from me and won't drive to me -_-

I wouldn't do it. He said that he won't hold it and with you being 2.5 hours away(at least from his location), it doesn't seem like a good deal. Sure, he might be in MD for business, but the fact that he is selling it for quite a significant discount and is not willing to travel to meet CL people is strange. I know you want the rMBP, but this is too much of a hassle to be worth it in my opinion.

You would have to schedule it perfectly to make sure he doesn't sell it even when you might be driving to him. You have no guarantee and you're dealing with a stubborn seller. Don't do it.

He owns a business, he has the box (it's at home in NYC), valid purchase date. He's willing to meet but he's 2 hours from me and won't drive to me -_-

1) His "business" is rooting Android phones and illegally installing pirated paid apps for people, and then charging them for it. A simple search of his phone number takes you to his Facebook profile/storefront - https://www.facebook.com/AndroidSpecialist

2) He says he has a box, it's conveniently in another state, but he couldn't bring it with him on a 2 day trip to MD when he knew he was planning to post a CL ad to sell the laptop. Plus, when you ask him about the box, he says "youre saving money, this isnt a giveaway." Sorry man, that's just shady (and a douchebag thing to say to a buyer).

3) I don't understand how a valid purchase date proves anything. Just that someone bought it. But that someone doesn't have to be him.

He gave me picture proof. I asked him to put his phone number and my phone number next to the computer and gladly did. Payment is the only issue now. He's allowing me to meet him but he's an hour and a half away.

You've asked for advice and pretty much every one has suggested you don't go through with it, yet you're still considering it? One look at that facebook page should have been enough to convince you. Plus he has been really rude. I would have told him to f@*# off a while ago.

His site says that he does upgrades, so maybe it's one of the machines that he was supposed to upgrade but just wants to sell. Or it was collateral(but I don't know what services he would provide that would require a rMBP as collateral) and someone didn't pay him. Totally not trustworthy.

Why not have peace of mind and just buy the rMBP from Apple directly? I know the obvious reason is the price, but you're going to jump through hoops for a guy that is rude, stubborn, and most likely shady. Plus, that 1.5 hours away is going to turn into at least a 5 hour day for you with checking out the computer, making payment, getting everything sorted and then driving back.

I wonder if this is his thing of listing something in another state's CL so that he can easily dispatch of goods that he illegally acquired and then have it be almost untraceable. He lives in NYC but posts a sale ad with a MD location when the box is at home and then luckily has a buyer from PA fall into his lap with this one.

You may want to review laws in your state regarding receiving stolen property as you may be liable for purchasing the stolen laptop.

As "the owner" is unable to produce any evidence they are the legal owner, combined with his evasive even combative statements, and finally the "too good to be true" status makes alarms go off in my head.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by ritmomundo

3) I don't understand how a valid purchase date proves anything. Just that someone bought it. But that someone doesn't have to be him.